Spring heel for footwear



May 4,1948. H. H. SMHH HTH 2,441,039

SPRlNG HEEL, FOR FOOTWEAR Filed Nov. 8, 1946 Patented May 4, k1948 UNITED STATES. PTeN-f om@ Herbert H.'n smith and william-Milk,

Bay Shore, N.' Y.

Appiieeuon November s, 1946,'4 serial Ne'. 7o's,524

the spring arrangement will be confined within the heel as'the heel is connected to the shoe.

Itlis'another-objec't of the present invention to providean arrangement for connecting the spring within the heel t retain the same temporarily while the heel', together with the spring arrangement is attached as a unit to the bottom of a shoe such thatthe connection can bemade by merelyrotating the retaining disc from the position where its projections have entered a slot for engagement or alignment with a groove s0 that the projections are within the groove to be retained thereby. f v

Itis still another object of thepresent'invention-toprovide a heel adapted tok have a vspring Aarrangement therein, whereby the spring arrangement can be easily removed from the heel and a spring arrangement of different tension and size can replace the original spring, whereby a shoe heel can be adapted for the use of persons of different sizes and weights.

According to the invention, there is provided in the rubber heel a recess adapted to receive the spring arrangement. The bottom of the recess forms the closure, is formed of material comprising the body of the heel and protrudes to some extent below the side edges of the heel. Within this recess, there is disposed the spring arrangement comprising two plates and a spring disposed therebetween. After the spring ar.

rangement has been disposed in the recess, the plate on the upper face of the heel is secured by means provided upon the heel recess wall so as to retain the unit in temporary engagement with the heel. f Any size spring arrangement can be fitted within the heel recess and if desired, the spring arrangement already in the heel can be readily removed and a new one replaced without a great deal of eiort.

According to one form of the invention, projections are provided on the disc which are adapted to enter openings for aligning the projections of the disc with a groove in the side wall of the recess. The disc is thereafter slightly turned to vconiine the projections within the 1A claim. (ci. asses) groove. When itis desired to remove the spring arrangement, the disc can be turnetifback so that the projectionscan pass through the openings. Th'e spring'matr be made of any thickness thereafter' placed upon the bottom'of the'shoe in the'nsual manner by means of shoe nails or brads or the like." Y Y,

For further' eomprehensionoi the' invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof. reference'will behad to the following' description andv accompanyingdrawings, and to the" ap-l pended claims in which the various vnovel fea tures of 'the invention are more particularly set forth. Y

In the accompanying drawings" forming a materialpa'rt of this disclosure:

Fig'.A 1 is a b'ottom'pla'n view'of'the hee'lfhaving provisions for the' ins'ertio'n therewithin iof the spring arrangement.' y

Fig; 2 is across sectional View taken on' line 2-`2"of"Fig'. 1, lookingin'the direction ofl the arrows thereof.' n

Fig. 3 is a transverse crossrsectional viewftaken on 4line '343 of Fig. .1, looking' in the direction of the arrows thereof.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View similar to Fig. 3 but showing the heel as it is attached to the bottom of the shoe by means of the usual shoe nails.`

Fig. 5 is a top View of the heel having a spring arrangement therein wherein the arrangement is retained by a disc having projections thereon adapted to be registered within grooves in the side wall of the spring recess.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional View taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 5 through the projections of the plate as they lie within the wall of the spring recess.

Fig. 7 is a similar view to Fig. 6, showing another modification of the invention.

Referring now to the iigures, I0 represents a rubber heel having a recess l I therein adapted to received a spring arrangement. This rubber heel is made of rubber which has some resiliency but has less resiliency than the spring arrangement l2. The bottom of the recess is formed from heel material I3 and this material protrudes downwardly from the forward part of the heel whereby to provide for a play of the material on the bottom of the heel so that the person may rest his weight upon the spring arrangement l2.

The spring arrangement l2 includes a spring I 4 arrangement within the recess so that the heel Y and spring arrangement can be sold as a unit.

According to the modification shown in Figs.

5 and 6, cement is unnecessary tosecure the plate I6 in place. In this instance, the plateis 24. With the plate I6 thus formed and rotated, thev spring arrangement will be retained within the recess I I.

The heel may now be sold as a unit and can be readily attached to leather members 21 on the bottom of a shoe 28 by means of shoe nails 29 in the usual manner that an ordinary leather heel is connected to a shoe bottom. When the unit has thus been connected to the bottom of the shoe, the spring arrangement Will be positively and more securely retained within recess II so that even though the plate I6 becomes disengaged from the side walls of the recess, the spring arrangement will still be maintained within the recess as long as the heel remains in place upon the shoe.

In Fig. 7 the plate I6' is shown to be at and its periphery is shown to be held in position by angular projection 30. In other respects this form of the invention is similar to the previous forms and like parts may bevrecognized by corresponding reference numerals.

The disc and the spring may gbe covered with soft pliable material such as cotton, felt or woolen fabric, or plastic. The spring ymay be made of any size and the Wire can be either of round or flat sections.

While we have illustrated and described the provided with a plurality of circumferentiallv.' spaced projections 22 adapted to pass throughV- openings 23 so that the plate can be rotated to place the projections within groove forl'natio'ns.A

4 preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to lbe understood that We do not limit ourselves to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifi- 5 cations coming within the scope of the invention as deiined in the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letter Patent is:

A spring heel arrangement comprising a heel I formed of resilient material, a recess within the heel having its bottom closed to provide at the bottom of the recess a body of resilient material adapted to be compressed inwardly within the Vrecessas the shoe is worn and weight placed upon the' shoe heel, a spring arrangement disposed Within the recess and adapted to be compressed as the shoe is Worn, means for securing the heel to a shoe bottom, said spring arrangement comprising two plates and a coil spring extended between the two plates, the plate in the open end of the re cess being connected to the side Wall of the recess whereby to temporarily retain the spring arrangement within the resilient heel material at least until thel heel has been secured to the shoe, said plate adapted to extend over the open end of the recess having projections circumferentially spaced therearound and extending radially outwardly from the periphery thereof, said heel material about the recess having'slots adapted to receive the projections of the plate, and groove formations adjacent thebottoms of the slots into which the projections of the plate can be rotated to therebyretainthe plate within the heel recess. 35 VHERBERT H. SMITH.

WILLIAM MILK.

Y REFERENCES CITED UNITED 'STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,510,841 Hanley oct. '1, 1924 45. 1,870,065 Nusser Aug. 2, 1932 

